Prenatal Stress and Schizophrenia

By: Beth McHugh 2009

Researchers have now uncovered a conclusive link between extreme stress
during the early stages of pregnancy and the development of schizophrenia
in the children of those mothers in later life.

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder of the brain and is commonly passed
down through the family chain, thus indicating a genetic link for the
condition. Drugs usage and life stresses can also promote the development
of schizophrenia in susceptible adults.

But a recent study at New York University’s School of Medicine
has proven conclusively that wartime stress is a trigger for the development
of the condition in later life. Other forms of stress are also implicated.

Over 80,000 children who were born in Jerusalem, Israel were studied
and found to have a significantly higher rate of schizophrenia than
the norm. The study looked at adults whose mothers were in the early
stages of pregnancy during the “Six-Day” Arab-Israeli war
in 1967. Female offspring were more likely to be affected than males.
Researchers at other universities suggest that all forms of extreme
stress such as trauma, domestic violence, bereavement, etc, can have
a significant effect on the developing fetus.

The placenta is very sensitive to stress and stress hormones can pass
easily from mother to unborn child. The most sensitive time for the
effect of stress hormones to potentially harm the developing fetus is
during the first trimester, especially the second month, when many neural
developments are occurring in the brain of the developing infant. The
head researcher of the New York study, Professor Dolores Malaspina said
that the study confirmed very conclusively what has been suspected among
mental health workers for quite some time.

Studies such as these highlight the importance of stress management
techniques at all times, but especially during pregnancy.